"The Maroochydore [and] Buderim areas seem to be the worst hit at this stage," he said.

'More to come'

The weather bureau says there is more wild weather on the way.

BOM forecaster Michael Knepp says there is a severe storm over Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, one moving towards Toowoomba and another storm cell heading towards Brisbane's northern suburbs.

"We have had reports of fairly significant rainfall - 50 millimetres in 15 minutes in Landsborough, reports of trees down in the same area, golf ball sized hail in Mooloolaba, and fairly strong winds from 41 knots at Applethorpe," he said.

"Amberley [west of Brisbane] had 45 knots which is close to 100 kilometres per hour."

'Hazardous driving'

Police are investigating whether the bad weather contributed to a serious road accident south of Stanthorpe, south of Toowoomba in southern Queensland.

Two people died when a car collided with a truck on the New England Highway at about 11:30am (AEST).

A third person, believed to be the truck driver, suffered minor injuries.

Emergency crews have responded to more than 250 calls for help in the Ipswich and Logan areas and about 130 in Brisbane.

The weather has also made driving hazardous with lights out at many places across Brisbane and water over a number of roads.

RACQ spokesman Joe Fitzgerald says they have received more than 700 roadside assistance call outs.

"Make sure you turn on your low-beam headlights, as much as for you to see as it is for other drivers to see you," he said.

"Double the recommended two second gap 'following distance' to about four seconds because greasy roads dramatically increase your stopping distance and the chances of a crash."

Mr Fitzgerald is urging drivers to be patient this evening and avoid the roads if possible.

"For safety and convenience, only travel if your journey is really necessary this afternoon and tonight," he said.

"If you wanted to grab some bread and milk maybe hold over until tomorrow, but drive to the conditions and you'll get home safe."

'Property damage'

At Darra in Brisbane's south-west, two dozen cars and trucks have been inundated.

Commuter Raj Suvramaniam says he cannot believe his station wagon is now filled with mud and water.

"One car has been washed away from one side of the road to the other side," he said.

None of the damaged cars is driveable and tow trucks are taking them away as their owners arrive.

The damage from this afternoon's storm has left many families in shock.

Rhyll Darwin's home on Albert Street in the Brisbane suburb of Goodna has had about 60 centimetres of water through it.

Three cars in her yard are no longer driveable, because they are full of water.

"Our sheds are gone, they lifted up and flooded," she said.

"The side gate has been ripped off its hinges."

She says the torrent washed her trailer out of the yard and knocked down the back fence.

She says there will be no clean-up until the insurance assessors arrive.

The house has no power and there is still ankle-deep water through the kitchen.

Brisbane SES director Warren Bridson says the extent of the damage is only now being revealed.

"We have certainly suffered a severe storm across Brisbane and the south-east," he said.

"We have got about 350 jobs on the go - mostly roof damage, some hail damage.

"We still have got some jobs left over from last night, and we are still repairing some roofs down around the Gold Coast-Beenleigh area from hail damage."

'Transport delays'

There have been extensive delays of up to an hour across the rail network.

Affected lines include Ipswich, Rosewood, the Gold Coast, Beenleigh, Cleveland and the Airport.

The storms have caused signal faults and overhead power failures.

There have also been delays of up to 20 minutes affecting most buses in the greater Brisbane region.